Parent's Day
by Handa Nieriel
Summary: Damian had been raised in a less-than-loving household throughout most of his childhood. Fortunately, that changed when he arrived at Wayne Manor. Two-shot about his appreciation for his new parents. In honor of Mother's and Father's Day.
1. Mother's Day

**Mothers are the most amazing people in the world. They love us, care for us, are always there for us, and put us above everything else. I was originally going to post this on Mother's Day, but I decided to make this a two-shot: one for Mother's Day and one for Father's. So I'm posting this roughly halfway between those two holidays. Reviews and constructive criticism appreciated (especially if you find any bad grammar or awkward wording). Happy reading!**

For Dick Grayson, the joy of finding out that his father was alive after an entire year of believing otherwise unfortunately lasted only a few weeks before it was quickly eclipsed by jealously and uncertainty regarding his relationship with a certain little bird. Although Damian would (probably) never admit it, he had come to accept Dick and even begin to view him as family (despite his "inferior gypsy blood and ungainly habits"). But now that Bruce had returned, Damian of course wanted to reclaim his place as the "true" son of Bruce Wayne. This left Dick confused about his status in the mind of the youngest bird. After living with and mentoring Damian for so long, his view of his young protégée had blurred between brother and son.

However, to Damian's dismay and Dick's indignation, Bruce was highly averse to accepting Damian as his son, blood relations or no. For so long, the vigilante had forbidden killing, yet his biological son had been raised an assassin by the al Ghuls of all people, which did not help the child gain his father's trust. Plus, that kid's personality was pricklier than a hedgehog-covered cactus.

Even though Dick didn't enjoy being seemingly replaced (as much as Alfred tried to convince him otherwise), he did his best to strongly foster, in his way, the partnership between the original Batman and the newest Robin. As Bruce grew to reluctantly trust his unorthodox son, Dick found himself increasingly confused and slightly lost. After all, now that Bruce was back in his position as head of the house, CEO of Wayne Enterprises, and Gotham's Dark Knight, Dick really had no reason to stay in Gotham. Dick had long ago grown into an independent young man and both their dominant personalities began to clash and cause friction. So he decided that it was high time that he went back to his city before that friction escalated into an inferno.

Dick was in his room packing up his belongings in preparation for his departure from the Manor when Damian entered his room with uncharacteristic shyness, his hands tucked behind his back. He gave a small cough to announce his presence. Dick has already grown used to his brother's quirks and turned smiling wryly, waiting for the child to say his piece.

"As you know, being the sappy imbecile that you are, today is Mother's Day. Our idiotic teacher had us make cards and threatened to fail me if I didn't, which you know Father would be quite angry if I did. Of course, Mother wouldn't want it so…" He had unfortunately run into a problem earlier that day during school when their perky young teacher decided that the students would be making cards for their mothers that day. When Damian told her that his mother wouldn't want the card, she told him that he should just make it for some other mother-figure in his life. He had Googled the word "mother", putting the detective skills that Dick had taught him to good use. Apparently a mother was there to coddle you when you were sick, tuck you in at night, make your hurts better, play with you, take care of you, and generally love you. Of course, the first person that came into his mind who fit that exact description was Grayson.

He stood there, his eyes skimming awkwardly around the room, not settling on his older brother. He gave another awkward cough before bringing his hand to the front. In his hands were a cute pink and rather glitter-covered card with the words "Happy Mother's Day" cheerily written over the top in red caps. Dick didn't know whether to laugh, be offended, or cry. Damian stuck the card out, looking directly out the window.

Dick gave a half laugh, half sob before tightly gathering the protesting aspiring artist into his arms. "Thanks Baby Bird," He choked out. "It's beautiful." Damian buried his face in the older Bird's face to hide his blush and the rather joyful smile that was stretching across his normally oh-so-serious features. He decided that he would let this _unwelcomed_ display of affection slide. After all, it was a special holiday to celebrate someone special.

Later, when he was having a final cup of tea with Alfred after dinner and everyone else had gone out for the night, Dick proudly displayed his newest treasure. Alfred decided that now was the time to be a grandfather and not a butler and let a pleased smile settle on his features. He knew that Dick had been agonizing (unfoundedly, of course) over his place in Damian's life for the past few weeks after Bruce's return. The two Birds had grown close to the point that they were more father and son than brothers during Bruce's absence and the butler was glad that everyone's place was firmly resolved. After all, it wouldn't harm Damian too much if he had two fathers; on the contrary, it would seem that Damian wouldn't prefer it any other way.


	2. Father's Day

Bruce awoke early in the morning to find his eldest and his youngest chatting happily at the dining table. Well, at least Dick was chatting; Damian merely sat with his face cradled in his hand, stirring at his cereal and grunting once in a while. Damian gave Bruce a grunt of greeting when he entered the room while Dick ignored him entirely. The silence following his appearance was slightly unnerving, even to the seasoned vigilante.

Bruce was surprised at their reactions. Damian had run off by himself during patrol the night before and Bruce had given him a stern lecture when they returned. When Damian had turned to Dick for help, but Dick had taken Bruce's side, except without the yelling. Nightwing had been patrolling with them since he was at the manor for Father's Day weekend. The younger vigilante had almost had a heart attack after they had found Robin three hours later and covered in blood. Thankfully it was not his own.

Bruce expected Damian to be angry at him, but he was surprised by Dick's greeting, or rather the lack of it. He knew Dick had been as worried about Damian as much as he had been. Both boys ignored him throughout the rest of the day. Around noon, he had received a call from Tim to wish him a happy Father's Day and an apology that he couldn't be there due to a Titans mission. Aside from that, he had almost no human contact. It seemed that even Alfred disapproved of him. Bruce was beginning to wish that he hadn't told everyone that he was actually taking the day off to spend time with his children. It would be awkward to return back to work, especially after the stunned silence that had followed his announcement on Friday.

Bruce finally gave up as the unnerving silent treatment got to him around 7 at night. The only people who could break his will were Dick and Alfred and they all knew that. There was really no point of dragging this out. He finally trapped his eldest son in the hallway before dinner.

"Why are you ignoring me?" he demanded.

Dick looked stunned, then angry. "You mean you didn't notice?" he practically exploded.

Bruce was taken aback. Dick rarely used this tone with him. And it was even rarer that anyone accused the Greatest Detective Alive of not noticing something. Bruce was beginning to let his lack of patience show when Dick grabbed his arm and hauled him into Damian's room. Bruce was sure that if Damian wasn't training in the Batcave's gym, they both would've gotten an earful for the invasion of privacy.

"Look," Dick demanded pointing at Damian's recycle bin. There, perched sadly among the crumpled up paper sat a neat card with a drawing of Wayne Manor on its front and "Happy Father's Day" written neatly along the top in stylish calligraphy.

"It looks like Damian put a lot of work into it. Why is it in the trash?" Bruce wondered.

Dick looked like he didn't know whether to angry or exasperated. "Your relationship with him was coming along so nicely," he sighed, settling for exasperated. "He thinks that it's splintering again. You got so angry at him yesterday. He may be your son, but he doesn't understand yet that when you get explodey, it means that you're really worried. That's why he thought that you wouldn't want the card. Don't you get it?"

Bruce was stunned. "I thought that card was for you."

Dick gave a very unbecoming snort. "I'm his mother," he answered. "You know that you're his only father. I mean, he never shuts up about it. Just think about it." Dick gave him one last unreadable look before leaving the master of the house alone in the bedroom.

Bruce scooped the card out of the trash and sat heavily on the bed. He took the time to glance around the room. Dick's room had always been colorful and covered with circus posters and toys. Jason had preferred the normal teen stuff and his walls were still covered with posters of bikinied women and cars. Tim's was mostly Spartan and neat, with the exceptions of the mini lab in one corner of his room and his desk which was always cluttered with paper. All their rooms reflected their personalities. Damian's, however, seemed to be the exact opposite. His room was covered in cute cat posters and the little stuffed cat that Dick had gotten him for his first birthday in the Manor was sitting next to his pillow looking well loved. Bruce had been so sure that the kid had chucked it away the moment Dick had turned his back. It was then that Bruce realized that for all his bravado and his prickly personality, Damian was a little kid who needed love and affection. Dick had seen it the moment he set eyes on the boy; why hadn't his own father?

And so, that was how Damian found his father- sitting on his bed, marveling on his revelation. Damian's fight or flight response was immediately triggered and his body was torn between fleeing back to the gym despite how exhausted he was or to get into another yelling match with his father. It seemed like there had been a lot of the latter happening lately. It was only Dick's constant reassurance that helped Damian hold onto the shred of hope that his father wanted him. His body froze and his mind blanked when his father held up the card questioningly.

Damian had spent so much time and effort into making that card. He had really hope that it would sufficiently convey his emotions to his father and he had been heartbroken when he had thrown it away last night, thinking that his father didn't really want him after all. The moment he saw that card, flight won over fight.

"Wait," Bruce called, just as Damian turned on his heel to sprint out the door. He cursed the last year spent being conditioned to obey that voice as his body froze in obedience. "Damian, we need to talk," Bruce half ordered, half pled. Damian sighed. He knew that with both Dick and Bruce alike, there was no refusing a talk. The problem was, that with Dick, he had some leeway to talk back.

Damian's shoulders slumped from their defensive position into one of unconscious submission as he turned back to his father. _He's about to kick me out_ he thought sadly. _Of course he doesn't want me as his son. He's disgusted by that card. It's what drove him to his decision._

Damian stood quietly in front of his father, waiting for the reprimand and eventually, the ultimatum. He was utterly stunned when his father, the cold stoic Batman, pulled him into a gentle hug. "Dick told me that you liked hugs," Bruce murmured softly into Damian's surprisingly soft hair. He eventually let the child go, staring at him sadly. Damian couldn't help but let out the little "tt" but waited for his father to speak.

Bruce sighed heavily. "I guess there's a lot of things that I didn't know about you. I know I'm not the best parent and I'm ever so grateful that you met Dick before you met me, or else you probably would have been scared back to Talia and there's no way I would ever want that," He paused and scrubbed a hand over his face. He had never been good with emotions, and it looked like his youngest had unfortunately inherited that trait from him. "I'm not the best with emotions, but I am so proud of you. I may be a control freak, as Dick is so fond of telling me, and you may not listen to me all of the time, but I would rather have a son than a robot. I'm so proud of you, both Damian Wayne and as Robin. I just hope that you know that."

For the first time in a long time, Damian had no biting retort for something that Bruce had said. Instead, he looked down and pulled the card out of Bruce's hands. He held it and looked at it for a long moment before looking back up. "Happy Father's Day," he said softly, offering the card to Bruce. Bruce couldn't hold the happy grin from splitting his face and happily accepted the card. He marveled at his son's artistic talent and opened the card.

 _Dear Father,_ it read. _I know that I am not the most obedient son in the world and that I may be a pain in the ass sometimes. Thank you for giving me a family and a home and a chance to be myself. Happy Father's Day._

Bruce grinned at his son's transparency. This card was definitely going beside the Bat Computer. 


End file.
